Wire gun



0. J. BRATZ WIRE GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1962 w 1 w ml .YN W mm Q mm I H D O o B D D u 3 0 9 D DI D B D b n S R SN 3 N13 g INVENTOR OTTO J. 5R 1? 7' Z 0. J. BRATZ WIRE GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1962 U a 0 R 5 E W 1m I T g0 I M B M 3 Q NM United States Patent 3,181,524 WIRE GUN Otto .l. Bratz, Adrian, Mich., assignor to American Chain dz Cable Company, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corpora= tion of New York Filed Aug. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 219,249 4 Claims. (Cl. 12416) This invention relates to devices for discharging a length of wire from a coil over a considerable distance and, more particularly, to a wire gun which can be selectively tri gored to permit a coil of twisted round wire to selfdischarge under the cumulative impulse of its own released energy.

One of the primary objectives of this invention is to provide a type of wire gun which can be carried and actuated by hand to propel a length of wire between spaced points. The operation of aiming and firing the device is safe and uncomplicated and need not involve explosives or any primary mover other than inherent elastic energy stored in the wire itself. The invention is founded on one discovery that a wire of round cross section, if twisted about its axis to a degree not exceeding its yield point and helically Wound into a suitably contained coil, can hurl itself substantially linearly outwardly from its container when its otherwise restrained innermost end is released by a selectively operable triggering device.

The new wire gun is intended especially for use where a line must be cast from one point to another, as for example in construction projects, in the maritime industry, during installation of communication lines, and so on. However, many other applications are contemplated which will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention set forth hereinafter.

Broadly stated, the new wine gun comprises a multilayered helically wrapped coil of round wire which is elastically twisted longitudinally throughout its length to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point. A canister open at one end surrounds the coil and a restraining devu'ce within the canister releasably holds the end portion of the innermost layer of the wire. Selectively operable triggering means exposed on the exterior of the canister extend therewithin into operative engagement with the restraining device for selectively releasing the hold of the device on the wire in the coil. Thus, upon actuation of the triggering means the wire is released and discharges substantially linearly outwardly under the cumulative impulse of it own released elastic energy through the open end of the canister.

In a preferred form of the wire gun, the coil of wire is part of an assembly which also includes end flanges disposed at and containing the opposite ends of the coil. At least one of these end flanges is for-med with a central aperture through which the Wire sclf.discharges when released .by the triggering means. Connecting means may be provided cojoining the pair of end flanges. It is also advantageous to include a removable closure which covers the open end of the canister and which is removed before the gun is used.

A preferred embodiment of the new wire gun is described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the completely assembled wine gun prior to use;

FIG. 2 is a lateral section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of the gun after it has been triggered and during the self-discharge of the wire; and

FIG. 4 is a pictorial illustration of the use of the new wire gun in a construction project.

3,l8l,524 Patented May 4, 1965 Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2., the gun includes a corcless coil 10 of steel wire of round cross section, per haps about .019 inch in diameter. This coil has earlier been formed by wrapping the wire helioally in a multiplicity of side-by-side turns and in a plurality of layers about a collapsible mandrel and longitudinally twisting the wire during the coiling process to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point. In a wire of the diameter given above formed into a coil approximately six inches long and about three inches in outside diameter, about one full twist to each convolution will approximate the degree of elastic twisting suitable for this invention. Since the twisting process does not plastically deform the wire, there is a considerable amount of stored elastic energy in the coil which tends to untwist the wire about its axis and in doing so to self-propel the wire linearly over a considerable distance.

After the coil lit has been formed in this fashion, its collapsible mandrel is removed and the opposite ends of the coil are contained by annular metal end flanges 11 and 12. These end flanges, which are intenoonnected by four tie rods 13 extending the length of the coil on the outside thereof, serve to prevent the endmost convol-utions of wire from unraveling and to permit easy handling of the coil during the assembly of the gun. The central aperture formed by each annular end flange 1-1 and 12 is approximately equal in diameter to that of the bore of the coil 10 after the collapsible mandrel has been removed from the coil. Before further steps are taken in the assembly of the :unit, the extremities of the wire in the coil 16 must be restrained in any suitable manner to prevent the wire from untwisting and self discharging prematurely.

The coil assembly, made up of the coil 1%, end flanges 11 and 12, and tie rods 13, fits closely within an openended metal canister 14. The canister 14 includes a permanently attached end Wall 15, opposite the open end thereof. This open end is covered by a removable closure 16 having a gasket 17 which seats on the canister 14 to prevent entry of moisture into the assembled wire gun. The closure 16 is held in place through a central opening 18 in a manner described below.

At the center of the end wall is a tubular guide 20 extending inwardly approximately one-third the length of the canister and projecting a short distance on the exterior side of the end wall. The tubular guide is of a diameter substantially less than the inside diameter of the coil 19. In the fully assembled condition of the wire gun, a twopiece rod made up of sections 21A and 21B extends slidably through the tubular guide 20 to the open end of the canister opposite the end wall 15. The rod sections 21A and 21B are separably interconnected by a locking joint 22 comprised of respective interfit-ting portions of Z shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 1. That end of the rod section 21A adjacent the open end of the canister is formed with a tapped end bore 23 adapted to receive the threaded portion of a wing nut 24 which is fitted through the central opening 18 in the closure 16 to provide means for securing the closure 16 in place. A suitable gasket 25 may be provided around the wing nut to seal the opening 18 when the canister is covered by the closure 16.

At the end portion of the rod section 21A adj accnt the open end of the canister is a lateral restraining pin 26. A compression spring 27 is disposed around the rod section 21A and is contained at its opposite ends in a compressed condition .by the lateral pin 26 and the innermost end of the tubular guide 24 Thus, the spring 27 tends to urge the rod sections 21A and 218 to the right as shovm in FIG. 1 but movement in that direction is prevented in the assembled gun by a second lateral pin 28 which extends through the exposed end of the rod sect-ion 21-13 beyond the end wall 15 and which rests against the exposed portion of the tubular guide 20. A hand ring 29 is attached to the end of the rod section 21B exposed at the closed end of the canister to permit the rod sections 21A and 21B to be pulled manually to the left as shown in FIG. 1 A safety pin 30 extending through the exposed portion of the tubular guide 20 and the rod section 21B prevents the device from being triggered inadvertently by the hand ring 29.

A slot 31 is cut in the end of the rod section 21A beyond the lateral pin 26 to receive an end portion 32 of the first convolution on the innermost layer of the coil of wire 10..

The wire gun described above is assembled in the fol lowing manner: With the closure 16 removed, the coil assembly made up of the'wire coil 19, end flanges 11 and 12, and tie rods 1-3, is fitted longitudinally into the canister 14. The compression spring 27 is then disposed about the rod section 21A, which at that point is separated from the rod section 21B, and the rod section 21A is directed through the open end of the canister and the interior of the coil into the tubular guide 20. Whatever temporary restraining means h-ad been holding the end portion 32 of the elastically twisted wire of the coil is released and that end portion 32 is fitted Within the slot 31 Without permitting the wire to untwist. The extremity of the rod 21A at the open end of the canister is then pushed inwardly into the coil 10 so as to compress the compression pring 27 between the lateral pin 26 and the tubular guide 29.. This forceful displacement of the rod section 21A is continued to the left as shown in FIG. 1 until the Z-shaped joint 22 on the rod section 21A is exposed beyond the end Wall 15 at the opposite end of the canister. The rod section 21B is then interlocked with the rod section 21A at their Z-shaped joint 22 and the spring 27 is permitted to displace both 'rod sections 21A and 21B to the right to the position shown in FIG. 1. The safety pin is then fitted in place,

the end closure 16 is disposed over the open end of the canister, and the wing nut 24 is threaded into the tapped bore 23 to hold the closure 16 in position. The wire gun is then ready for use.

When the gun is to be fired, the wing nut 24 is loosened, the closure ,16 is removed from the canister, and the safety pin 30 is withdrawn. The user then grips the hand ring 29 and the cylindrical portion of the canister 14 and pulls the ring 29 outwardly to the left as shown in FIG. 1. As this is done, the compression spring 27 compresses and the rod sections 21A and 21B move to the left as shown in FIG. 1 until the Z-shaped joint 22 therebetween is exposed on the exterior end of the tubular guide 20. As soon as the Z-shaped joint 22 is freed from the tubular guide 20, the rod section 21B separates from the rod section 21A. The rod section 21B will be left in the users hand and the rod section 21A springs suddenly from the open end of the canister by the expansion of the compression spring 27 pulling the first few convolutions of the Wire free from the coil 10.

The end port-ion 32 of the wire may at this time come loose from the slot 3 1 in the rod section 21A, but it is not necessary that it does so and in some instances the rod section 21A may remain attached to the wire throughout the discharge operation. The considerable stored elastic energy in the wire causes each convolution to snap into an untwisted state with the result that the wire self-propels itself linearly outwardly along the axis of the gun as shown in FIG. 3. This self-discharge of the Wire is cumulative in that each successively untwisting convolution hurls the previous length of wire outwardly at a great rate of speed. Depending upon the size of the coil, several hundreds and indeed thousands of feet of such Wire can fly from the gun at velocities up to forty miles per hour or more through distances of up to eighty feet or more. Throughout the period of firing, the gun is held in the users hand pointed in the direction where the Wire is to go, as shown for illustration in FIG. 4. The self-discharging wire arches outwardly much in the manner of a stream of water from a nozzle until all the energy Within the coil is ex- 4 pended. After firing, the canister and associated parts may be retained but a new coil assembly of twisted wire must be prepared in order to use the gun again.

It is not the function of the spring-type triggering device tocontribute to the propulsion of the wire from the gun during firing, but rather to provide a convenient and sure manner of freeing the end of the twisted wire. The elastic energy inherent in the coil itself is the sole source of discharging force for the wire and the spring-type triggering device simply permits the user to release the end of the wire Without reaching manually into the interior of the gun.

1 claim:

1. A wire gun comprising: a

(a) a multi-layered helically wrapped coil of round Wire, said wire in said coil being elastically twisted longitudinally throughout its length to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point,

(b) a canister open at one, end and surrounding said coil,

(c) a restraining device within said canister releasably holding the end portion ofthe innermost layer of said wire, and

(d) selectively operable triggering means exposed on the exterior of said canister and extending therewithin into operative engagement with said restraining device for selectively releasing the hold of said device on the'wire on said coil, whereby upon actuation of said triggering means said wire is released and self-discharges substantially linearly outwardly under the cumulative impulse of its own released elastic energy through the open end of said canister.

2. A wire gun comprising:

(a) a wire coil assembly comprising:

(i) a multi-layered helically wrapped coil of round wire, said wire in said coil being elastically twisted longitudinally throughout its length to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point, 7

(ii) end flanges disposed at and containing the opposite ends of said coil, at least one of said end flanges being formed with a central aperture, and

(iii) connecting means cojoining said end flanges,

(b) a canister open at one end and surrounding said coil assembly with the apertured end flange thereof adjacent the open end of said canister,

(c) a restraining device within said coil assembly releasably holding the end portion of the innermost layer of said wire, and

(d) selectively operable triggering means exposed on the exterior of said canister and extending therewithin in operative engagement with said restraining device for selectively releasing the hold of said device on the Wire in said coil, whereby upon actuation of said triggering means said wire is released and self-discharges substantially linearly outwardly under the cumulative impulse of its own released energy through the aperture in said end flange adjacent the open end of said canister.

3. A manually portable wire gun comprising:

(a) a wire coil assembly comprising:

(i) a multi-layered helically wrapped coreless coil of round wire, said wire in said coil being elastically twisted longitudinally throughout its length to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point, 7

(ii) annular end flanges axially disposed at and containing the opposite ends of said coil, and

(iii) connecting means extending about the outside of said coil and cojoining said end flanges,

surrounding said coil assembly,

(c) a restraining device within said canister extending from the closed toward the open end thereof inside said coil and releasably holding the end convulations on the innermost layer of said wire in said coil, and

(d) selectively operable manual triggering means eX- posed exteriorly at the closed end of said canister and extending therethrongh into operative engagement with said restraining device for selectively releasing the hold of said device on the wire in said coil, whereby upon actuation of said triggering means said wire is released and self-discharges substantially linearly outwardly under the cumulative impulse of its own released elastic energy through the end fiange nearest the open end of said canister.

4. A manually portable Wire gun comprising:

(a) a wire coil assembly comprising:

(i) a multi-layered helically wrapped coreless coil of round wire, said wire in said coil being elastically twisted longitudinally throughout its length to a point approaching but not exceeding its yield point,

(ii) annular end flanges axially disposed at and containing the opposite ends of said coil, and

(iii) connecting means extending about the outside of said coil and cojoining said end flanges,

(b) a canister open at one end and concentrically surrounding said coil assembly,

(c) a removable closure covering the open end of said canister,

(d) a restraining device within said canister extending from the closed toward the open end thereof inside said coil and releasably holding the end convolutions on the innermost layer of said wire in said coil, and

(e) selectively operable manual triggering means exposed exteriorly at the closed end of said canister and extending therethrough into operative engagement with said restraining device for selectively releasing the hold of said device on the wire in said coil, whereby upon removal of said closure and actuation of said triggering means said wire is released and self-discharges substantially linearly outwardly under the cumulative impulse of its own released elastic energy through the end flange nearest the open end of said canister.

References (liter! by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 955,078 4/10 Jedel.

LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner. JAMES w. LOVE, Examiner.

Notice of Adverse Decision in Interference In Interference No. 95,770 involving Patent No. 3,181,524, 0. J. Bratz, WIRE GUN, final judgment adverse to the patentee was rendered Sept. 17

1968, as to claim 1.

[Ofiicial Gazette December 17, 1.968.] 

1. A WIRE GUN COMPRISING: (A) A MULTI-LAYERED HELICALLY WRAPPED COIL OF ROUND WIRE, SAID WIRE IN SAID COIL BEING ELASTICALLY TWISTED LONGITUDINALLY THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH TO A POINT APPROACHING BUT NOT EXCEEDING ITS YIELD POINT, (B) A CANISTER OPEN AT ONE END AND SURROUNDING SAID COIL, (C) A RESTRAINING DEVICE WITHIN SAID CANISTER RELEASABLY HOLDING THE END PORTION OF THE INNERMOST LAYER OF SAID WIRE, AND (D) SELECTIVELY OPERABLE TRIGGERING MEANS EXPOSED ON THE EXTERIOR OF SAID CANISTER AND EXTENDING THEREWITHIN INTO OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RESTRAINING DEVICE FOR SELECTIVELY RELEASING THE HOLD OF SAID DEVICE ON THE WIRE ON SAID COIL, WHEREBY UPON ACTUATION OF SAID TRIGGERING MEANS SAID WIRE IS RELEASED AND SELF-DISCHARGES SUBSTANTIALLY LINEARLY OUTWARDLY UNDER THE CUMULATIVE IMPULSE OF ITS OWN RELEASED ELASTIC ENERGY THROUGH THE OPEN END OF SAID CANISTER. 